HANGZHOU, July 25 -- Nature has published a Chinese-led research on the relation between alterations of human gut bacteria and liver cirrhosis, the research team said on Friday.

The research concluded that the alterations of gut microbiota dysbiosis can worsen the liver cirrhosis process.

The scientists compared 98 patients and 83 healthy individuals.

The researchers found that patients with liver cirrhosis have considerably less gut bacteria than healthy people.

"We are certain that 28 species of bacteria are closely related to liver cirrhosis. Many kinds of them had never been noticed," said Qin Nan, the first author of the essay published in Nature. Qin also works at the State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Disease.

According to the research team, oral bacteria of liver cirrhosis patients can affect the bowels. But this does not exist in healthy people.

"This may significantly affect the development of liver cirrhosis," Li said.

The team also selected 15 species of microorganism genes that can accurately diagnose liver cirrhosis.